University of Bari Aldo Moro
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Techniques and Methods to Evaluate Human-Centered Symbiotic AI Systems
No full textArtificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming many fields, enabling enhanced automated decision-making processes and the development of autonomous systems. To design high-quality AI systems, Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and AI contaminate each other, creating a symbiosis between humans and AI. I am a second-year PhD student in Computer Science with a fellowship in the Future AI Research (FAIR) project. My research project concerns the evaluation of the quality of Symbiotic AI (SAI) systems and, consequently, the definition of an evaluation framework and metrics to evaluate both the human’s and AI system’s performance. This contribution presents a first set of results considering the main opportunities and challenges in this new scenario
L’estensione del modello Cpr: recenti sviluppi nel patto italo-albanese
No full textLe misure riconducibili al paradigma della migration detention possiedono un contenuto fortemente afflittivo e avvolto da un involucro nominalistico che alimenta il dibattito sulla necessaria collocazione del trattenimento amministrativo nell’ambito della matière criminelle. La creazione di centri di detenzione amministrativa, sotto la gestione italiana, in territorio albanese, dei (soli) migranti imbarcati su mezzi delle autorità italiane all’esterno del mare territoriale della Repubblica o di altri Stati membri dell’Unione europea, impone il dibattito sulla legittimità di tali strutture, sul loro concreto funzionamento e sulla conseguente compressione dei diritti dei migranti coinvolti
Gender Inequality
No full textThe report provides a wide overview of the Italian legislation aimed at preventing gender inequality
Italian guidelines for the management of adult individuals with primary hypothyroidism outside pregnancy
No full textAim: The present guideline (GL) is aimed to improve and standardize the treatment of primary hypothyroidism in non-pregnant adults and to offer all the patients the best possible care across the Italian country. Target population: Non-pregnant adults with hypothyroidism. Excluded population: This GL does not cover the treatment of hypothyroidism in children and adolescents under 18 years of age, in women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, nor in subjects with central hypothyroidism. Also patients who require suppressive therapy with levothyroxine after thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer and those with transient iatrogenic hypothyroidism were not considered in this GL. Methods: The direct costs and the utilization of resources over time were evaluated for the implementation of the appropriate management within the National Health Service. Recommendations were based on the analysis, according to the GRADE methodology, of the evidence from literature. Patients preferences were collected and verified by means of specific bibliographic research and the active participation of two patients’ representatives in the GL development group. Results: The present GL provides 4 formal graded recommendations and 16 ungraded indications for good clinical practice. An elevated agreement was consistently obtained among the panel members. Conclusions: The present GL provides operative recommendations—based on the best available evidence and cost-effectiveness analysis—for the treatment of adult patients with primary hypothyroidism. The expected benefits from the dissemination, application and implementation of this GL are the improvement of the quality of care, its homogenization across the national territory and the rationalization of health expenditure in the respect of patient preferences
The role of hyaluronic acid in the treatment of periodontal disease: a systematic review
No full textPeriodontal disease (PD) is a chronic inflammatory condition affecting the tooth-supporting structures, significantly impacting oral health and potentially leading to tooth loss if untreated. This review examines the role of Hyaluronic acid (HA) in the treatment of PD, emphasizing its ability to reduce inflammation, promote gum healing, and support tissue regeneration, particularly in periodontitis and gingivitis. Thirteen articles were included for qualitative analysis after screening titles, abstracts and full texts, with quality assessed using the ROBINS method. HA has demonstrated promising results as an adjunct in periodontal therapy, improving clinical outcomes such as Periodontal probing depth (PPD) and Clinical attachment level (CAL). However, limitations such as short follow-up durations, lack of patient-reported outcomes, and the need for more diverse research populations were noted. HA has emerged as a promising adjunct in periodontal therapy. Its regenerative and anti-inflammatory properties are especially beneficial for patients with advanced PD. Despite positive results, further research is needed to optimize concentration, delivery methods, and long-term effectiveness
Increased GM-WM in a prefrontal network and decreased GM in the insula and the precuneus are associated with reappraisal usage and reduced perceived stress: A data fusion approach
No full textEmotion regulation plays a crucial role in mental health, and difficulties in regulating emotions can contribute to psychological disorders. While reappraisal and suppression are well-studied strategies, the joint contributions of gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) to these strategies remain unclear due to methodological limitations in previous studies. To address this, we applied a data fusion approach using Parallel Independent Component Analysis (Parallel ICA) to GM and WM MRI images from 165 individuals. Parallel ICA identified two networks associated with reappraisal usage. Network 1 included a large lateral and medial prefrontal cortical network, partially overlapping with both the anterior hubs of the Central Executive network (CEN) and the Default Mode network (DMN), and adjacent WM regions. Higher reappraisal frequency was associated with greater GM-WM density within this network, and this network was negatively correlated with perceived stress. Network 2 included the insula, precuneus, sub-gyral, and lingual gyri in its GM portion, showing a negative association with reappraisal usage. The WM portion, adjacent to regions of the central executive network (CEN), was positively associated with reappraisal usage. Regarding suppression, no significant network was associated with this strategy. This study provides new insights into individual differences in reappraisal use, showing a positive association between reappraisal frequency and increased gray and white matter concentration in a large frontal network, including regions of the frontal DMN and the CEN. Conversely, subcortical areas exhibited reduced gray and white matter concentration
Corallith bed of the endangered coral Cladocora caespitosa in the South Adriatic Sea
No full textThe colonial coral Cladocora caespitosa is a Mediterranean-endemic scleractinian structuring ecosystems of great conservation and ecological importance. Their nomenclature is here revised distinguishing between three different C. caespitosa formations: beds, grounds and reefs. Here we describe an extensive C. caespitosa bed at Tremiti Islands (Italy, Adriatic Sea), where thousands of colonies develop as free-living coral nodules (coralliths) on a soft, detritic bottom. Colonies were seldom present shallower than 15 m depth as well as on rocky bottoms, while their density increased with depth up to 700 colonies 100 m− 2 at 22 m. Their bathymetric occurrence was primarily influenced by seawater temperatures, particularly during summer, when a marked thermocline act as protection against high temperatures. The conservation status of the C. caespitosa bed was overall good, with low epibiosis/necrosis, and negligible bleaching. Demographic traits and size-structure of both colonies and polyps (through corallites) are reported. These rare coral formations might be affected by anthropogenic threats at both local and global scale, thus appropriate conservation measures are needed to avoid significant impacts in the future
Predictors of proteinuria, amyloidosis and kidney failure in familial Mediterranean fever: data from the International AIDA Network Registry
No full textObjectives Proteinuria, amyloidosis and kidney failure are the main long-term renal complications of FMF. This study assesses their risk factors, independent of ethnicity or residence. Methods Patients' data were drawn from the International AIDA Network registry for monogenic autoinflammatory diseases. Results A total of 598 FMF patients were enrolled, with 80 having proteinuria, 61 amyloidosis and 25 kidney failure. At multivariate regression analysis, proteinuria was associated with out-of-flares thrombocytosis (odds ratio [OR]: 4.78, 95% CI: 1.54-14.8, P = 0.007), increased out-of-flares ESR (OR: 2.7, 95% CI: 1.3-5.6, P = 0.008), homozygous M694V mutation (OR: 2.27, 95% CI: 1.1-4.66, P = 0.025) and heterozygous M694V mutation (OR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.09-0.86, P = 0.026); amyloidosis was associated with the disease duration (OR: 1.034, 95% CI: 1.004-1.065, P = 0.027), during-flares anaemia (OR: 2.9, 95% CI: 1.18-7.19, P = 0.021), out-of-flares leucocytosis (OR: 7.47, 95% CI: 1.6-34.7, P = 0.01), increased out-of-flares ESR (OR: 3.6, 95% CI: 1.48-8.81, P = 0.005) and heterozygous M694V mutation (OR: 0.18, 95% CI: 0.035-0.9, P = 0.04); kidney failure was associated with the age at diagnosis (OR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.0003-1.19, P = 0.048), the disease duration in years (OR: 1.07, 95% CI: 1.02-1.12, P = 0.005), attack frequency per year (OR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.007-1.076, P = 0.019), anaemia out-of-flares (OR: 4.7, 95% CI: 1.004-22.1, P = 0.049) and out-of-flares leucocytosis (OR: 25.8, 95% CI: 2.75-242, P = 0.004). The intraclass correlation coefficient related to ethnicity and country of residence was 6.7% and 6.8% for amyloidosis, respectively, and 0% for proteinuria and kidney failure. Conclusion FMF patients with older age at diagnosis, longer disease duration, anaemia, leucocytosis, thrombocytosis, elevated ESR and homozygous M694V mutation are at higher risk of kidney complications
Covering gonality of symmetric products of curves and Cayley–Bacharach condition on Grassmannians
No full textGiven an irreducible projective variety X, the covering gonality of X is the least gonality of an irreducible curve E ⊂ X passing through a general point of X. In this paper, we study the covering gonality of the k-fold symmetric product C(k) of a smooth complex projective curve C of genus g ≥ k + 1. It follows from a previous work of the first author that the covering gonality of the second symmetric product of C equals the gonality of C. Using a similar approach, we prove the same for the -fold and the -fold symmetric product of C. A crucial point in the proof is the study of the Cayley-Bacharach condition on Grassmannians. In particular, we describe the geometry of linear subspaces of Pn satisfying this condition, and we prove a result bounding the dimension of their linear span
GENDER VARIABILITY IN THE PROSODIC PRODUCTION OF COMPLIMENTS IN ITALIAN: A PILOT STUDY
No full textThe aim of this research is to examine the prosody of Italian compliments. Previous research on compliments has devoted minimal attention to the prosodic aspect of these expressions, and little attention has been addressed to the question of compliments in Italian. However, issues regarding intonation and duration seem to be of pivotal importance in the construction of compliments and in the differentiation of compliment responses.
To this end, a corpus of oral Discourse Completion Tasks (DCT) was analysed to describe a contextual situation in which speakers were required to offer a compliment. Eight Italian participants (4 men and 4 women) were asked to read the DCTs and provide an appropriate response to the given scenario. The comparisons were made between male and female participants, without considering cross-gender compliments. There were notable differences in the lexical and intonation preferences of the female and male participants. Acoustic analysis revealed evidence of gender-based differences in the prosody of compliments, specifically in terms of pitch range and duration. In particular, male participants showed a wider pitch range and longer stressed nuclear vowels than their female counterparts. These findings suggest a correlation between the prosodic strategies observed and the lexical choices present in the compliments. The data indicated that men used longer compliments with low lexical density and a greater number of implicit expressions, whereas women produced shorter compliments with a higher semantic density than those produced by their male counterparts. This was due to the higher incidence of intensifiers and positive words used by women. These features increased the number of high-pitched accents in the intonation contours of women's utterances, as well as the global pitch range, resulting in more expressive and affective compliments compared to those of men. This study broadens our understanding of Italian compliments by examining them from both lexical and prosodic perspectives. By addressing the lack of research on the prosody of compliments—particularly within the underexplored context of Italian discourse—it makes a valuable contribution to the field of pragmatics